Certain light spectrums emitted by LEDs (blue or red) are known to be therapeutic for skin treatment against maladies such as acne, or are beneficial to inhibit skin aging. However, there is a need to provide users/patients with a convenient at-home light therapy delivery device such as a wearable mask, veil or hood that is adjustable or flexible to conform to different sizes and shapes, and that is simple to use without user discomfort. Currently available at-home, consumer usable products on the market are fixed to one-size and/or usually have to be hand-held; which generally have not proven satisfactory for providing the best or desired light dispersion. The alternative is customers visiting a doctor's office to receive treatments.
Prior known light therapy devices, particularly masks, have suffered from problems relating to the exposure of the LEDs and the associated circuitry to power the LEDs to contact by users. More particularly, in an effort to maximize light communication to a patient, the LEDs have been disposed in a manner which allow them to be physically engaged (e.g., touched) by a patient, or even contact a treatment surface, which processes are debilitating to the LEDs as a result of the accumulation of dirt and oil. In addition, any such engagement can be dangerous to patients who are exposed to the sharp or hot edges of the LEDs and the associated circuitry. The exposure of detailed circuitry presents an intimidating and unpleasant experience when the therapy requires several minutes of time for completion and the mask is disposed relatively close to the face, often causing an uncomfortable, claustrophobic sensation over time to the patient.
A hands-free therapeutic experience is always better than having to hold the device in a particular position for extended periods of time during the therapy. Numerous assemblies have been conceived for mounting masks and helmet-like devices to varieties of straps, bands, wraps and cords, which can result in a pressing of the support and mounting assembly closely against the hair or scalp of a patient. There is always a need to minimize the extent of such attachment assemblies so that on the one hand the subject device is securely attached on the patient, but also that the attaching structure has minimal consequence to the patient's comfort during the therapy itself. Being relatively light in weight, and easily and minimally supported during therapeutic use are important to consumer acceptance.
As users come in a variety of shapes and sizes, devices should be size or area adjustable so that the therapy can be efficiently applied and/or selectively intensified to desired treatment areas.
Lastly, particularly in therapeutic devices treating facial areas, eye protection is needed to avoid light damage or irritation to a patient's eyes. Prior known devices have typically used separable patches which must rest on the eye area to block the therapeutic light from communication to the eye system itself. There is a need for a better way that is readily adaptable to communicate therapeutic light to areas near the eyes, particularly with regard to anti-aging treatments, and still protect the patient.
According to another aspect of this disclosure, embodiments of a holdable spot light therapy treatment device are disclosed. The light therapy spot application addresses the need to treat a relatively small area of a user's treatment area, such as the user's face, to prevent and/or treat a skin condition such as acne. While this disclosure initially describes a light therapy platform system including a facial mask, additional embodiments are illustrated and described to include the disclosed light therapy technology into a holdable light therapy spot applicator.
As with the light therapy facial mask platform, the light therapy spot applicator disclosed provides a convenient at-home light therapy delivery device.
It is desired to provide alternative means of using the benefits of the light therapy in a manner to maximize therapeutic efficiencies in exposure while maintaining ease and convenience of use. For this reason, a variety of light weight, flexible and adjustable embodiments are disclosed within this disclosure incorporating a variety of energy varying applications responsive to user conditions or needs.